More needs to be done to drive down rising deaths on the road

Dawn Renton

More needs to be done to protect vulnerable road users after new figures reveal a rise in the number of deaths on Britain’s roads according to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

The family safety charity is advocating a range of solutions to drive down the number of deaths and life-changing injuries on Britain’s roads, including ensuring there are sufficient numbers of police targeting careless drivers who put themselves and others at risk.

Statistics released by the Department for Transport show an increase in the number of people killed or seriously injured, in particular pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, last year compared to 2013.

RoSPA is concerned, as the figures show a 4 per cent rise in deaths to 1,775. Of particular concern is the number of vulnerable road users being killed or injured. Three-quarters of the increase in deaths were pedestrian casualties, meaning that last year one in four people killed on the road were pedestrians. There were also 16,727 child casualties in 2014 - up 6.2 per cent on the previous year.

Cyclists also still account for a disproportionately high number of casualties, with 113 killed in 2014. Worryingly, there was a huge rise in the number of cyclists being seriously injured, from 3,143 to a total of 3,401. This number has been increasing almost every year since 2004.

Motorcyclist deaths rose by 2 per cent from 331 in 2013 to 339 in 2014, and there was an increase of more than 400 who were seriously injured, taking the number to 5,628 in 2014, a rise of 9 per cent.

Traffic levels also rose by 2.4 per cent in 2014, which may account partly for the increase in deaths and injuries on our roads.

Nick Lloyd, road safety manager at RoSPA, said: “As our economy improves, we can expect traffic levels to continue to increase, so we must do everything we can to make sure this does not lead to even more increases in road crashes and casualties.

“The reductions in road death and injury in recent years will not automatically be sustained, without a continued commitment to road safety. We must remain focussed on making our roads safer for everyone, and especially for people travelling on foot and by two wheels.

“The number of pedestrian fatalities involving those over 60 has increased by 16 per cent, together with a 7 per cent increase in car occupants. With an aging population we must renew our efforts to reverse this phenomenon.

“It is estimated that between 240 and 340 people were killed in Great Britain when at least one driver was over the drink-drive limit. We must renew our efforts to highlight the dangers of drink driving.”